Indium is a very soft silver-white metal having an atomic number of 49 and atomic number of about 115. Indium is available in several forms including bar, foil, pieces, powder, nano-sized activated powder, rod, shot, sheet, and wire. The use of indium for industrial applications is widely documented. Indium is generally found in combination with lead compounds. The use of indium as a nutritional supplement is not well known, but purified indium salts that are free of lead salts are known. Such purified indium salts are used in trace quantities as supplements for human consumption for stimulating metabolism.
Several attempts have been made to introduce indium in a digestible form. For example, Bonadio, U.S. Pat. No. 6,007,847 discloses the administration of indium sulfate as a human nutritional supplement. According to Bonadio, U.S. Pat. No. 6,007,847, indium sulfate must be administered either as a solution or as a lozenge which is pre-dissolved in the mouth. Indium sulfate must be taken on an empty stomach and with no other supplement or dietary ingredient mixed with indium sulfate.
Indium sulfate has a bitter, metallic taste which makes it generally unsuitable for administration in the preferred, liquid form disclosed by Bonadio, U.S. Pat. No. 6,007,847. While an indium sulfate tablet would be greatly preferred, Bonadio, U.S. Pat. No. 6,007,847 discloses that because indium sulfate is extremely hygroscopic, it absorbs water and ruins its packaging when formed into pills, capsules and tablets. Bonadio, U.S. Pat. No. 6,007,847 has further disclosed indium sulfate and any GRAS approved indium compounds are poorly absorbed when taken orally.
The applicant of this invention has overcome the above described difficulties by providing a compressed tablet comprising indium salts for oral administration.